Glycemic Control of Hospitalized Patients at a Medical Center in Taiwan

Abstract

Achieving the glycemic target is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients; however, the status of glycemic control in Taiwan has not yet been evaluated. We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the status of glycemic control in our hospital. We collected all the point-of-care blood glucose (POC-BG) data generated in general wards and intensive care units (ICUs) between April 2012 and June 2012. Parameters including mean of total POC-BG values, proportion of any POC-BG value less than 70 mg/dL, more than 250 mg/dL and 70 ~ 250 mg/dL, patient-day weighted mean glucose (PDWMG) value and percentage of PDW-MG value more than 180 mg/dL were compared between patients in medical and surgical wards, patients in medical and surgical ICUs, and among patients in each of the medical wards and surgical wards. The mean glucose and PDW-MG values were 192.4 mg/dL and 183.1 mg/dL in the general wards and 196.3 mg/dL and 187.7 mg/dL in the ICUs, respectively. The quality of inpatient glycemic control was poorer for patients in medical wards than in surgical wards, but the difference was smaller between patients in medical and surgical ICUs. The quality of glycemic control among patients in the different medical wards was inconsistent. In summary, the quality of inpatient glycemic control in our hospital was found to be suboptimal as compared with the current guidelines. The development of a strategy for improvement is critical, and the subsequent clinical effectiveness needs further investigation.